


School Run

by nonsensicalbelle



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, M/M, bucky is a wannabe rebel, it's flirting and bus banter, marvel team as teenagers, steve is an art nerd, teens being dumb and adorable, they are a motley gang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:44:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7862278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonsensicalbelle/pseuds/nonsensicalbelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The trip to school with the avengers as ordinary awkward teenagers is always sure to be a fun ride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Morning

**Author's Note:**

> these sweeties as teenagers is something i just wanted to write about. i might make it a series if anyone likes it but it's just something a little silly i had knocking about in my head that wanted to be written. hope you like it - let me know what you think in a comment, that would be great! okay, enjoy!

Bus Seating

BUCKY – – STEVE – – TONY – – BRUCE – –PEPPER

TASHA  – – CLINT                     SAM   – – MARIA

JANE   – – THOR                       WANDA – – PIETRO

PHIL    – – LOKI                       BROCK   – – JASPER

                                                           FURY

19th September 2016

7:46

Steve hauls himself up the unforgiving bus steps, ignoring Bucky’s outstretched hand with an eyeroll. Bucky scoffs and leads the way to the very back of the empty bus with a brief ‘Morning’ to Bus Driver Fury, as polite as two teenage boys can manage at that early in the morning. He slings his bag by his feet, planting his shoulder against the window so he’s facing Steve with one foot up on the seat. Steve is small enough that Bucky’s foot doesn’t bother him by taking up space.

In their small town’s school bus route, they are the first two to get picked up, together as they live on the same street. They have a sweet ten minutes or so before Fury picks up Tasha, Clint and the Maximoff twins. In that ten minutes Steve pokes and prods Bucky into letting him help with his homework which he always leaves until the last minute. Or, in instances like this morning when Bucky has none due and/or Steve is too tired to pester him, they share a pair of earphones and Steve’s head tends to loll and maybe lean on Bucky’s shoulder which is definitely allowable at this time in the morning.

The song is an acoustic version of Sweet Child O’ Mine as Bucky is susceptible to classic rock in the morning but it must be dampened by Steve’s sleepy indie soul so they find compromise where they can. Bucky is enjoying the gentle vibrations of the bus window with his eyes closed and Steve is lazily doodling on his left hand in Sharpie. Bucky moans about it but never stops him.

“You know that shit never comes off, Stevie.” Bucky mumbles with a smirk, not looking over. He hears Steve huff a little laugh in harmony with a guitar bridge.

“Well, I’d better make this good then, huh?” He retorts and Bucky’s smile grows a little and he elbows Steve gently.

“Hey, you’ll ruin it, quit moving!”

“Right, sorry,” He laughs and tunes back into the song and the gentle tickling feeling dancing on the back of his hand. This is his favourite time of morning when it’s calm and quiet and the two of them can fall into the easy comfort of little touches and shared serenity.

The bus starts jolting on the speed bumps up the hill which means it’ll be stopping soon. Steve caps his pen and sticks it in Bucky’s jacket pocket momentarily whilst he fishes through his bag. The bus stops with a jolt and Tasha and Clint slide onto the double seat in front of Bucky and Steve. The Maximoff twins bounce into their seats and Pietro’s voice is already becoming white noise as he seems to speak solidly for minutes without ever taking a breath. Wanda is conveniently immune, nodding but it might be to the beat of whatever is thudding from her headphones as she paints her nails a deep pretty maroon.

“Barnes, Rogers.” Tasha greets from where she has twisted round in her seat.

“Hey guys,” Steve grins as he passes a Satsuma to Tasha and a banana to Clint.

“Aw, why do you always make me eat things from trees, Steve?”  Clint whines and Tasha laughs, already efficiently peeling her Satsuma.

“Bananas don’t grow on trees, dumbass.” Bucky snarks from where he still has his eyes closed and his head against the window. Steve elbows him but he’s laughing too.

“They don’t?” Clint turns to Tasha, bewildered.

“No, they don’t.”

“Don’t believe you.” Clint pouts and Bucky kicks his seat harshly.

“Stupid move.” Steve remarks absently as he resumes doodling on Bucky’s hand.

“Fine. Ask Pepper then.” Tasha returns, popping a slice of Satsuma into her mouth as she fishes a book from her bag and swings her legs onto his lap as she reads what looks like a thriller novel in Russian.

“I will.” Clint pulls a battered looking game console from his hoodie's pocket and a game starts bleeping noisily at him.

“Clint,” Tasha warns, fixing a glare at him over the top of her book. He grins sheepishly and turns down the volume.

“What’re you playing?” Steve asks and it’s more to make Bucky grumble as he hates listening to Clint whine first thing in the morning. Predictably, Bucky cracks an eye open to scowl at him and Steve grins devilishly.

“It’s a dog simulator and it’s definitely the future of gaming and should be the future of living. This dog has my perfect life, I’m torn between jealous and proud.” Clint sighs and Bucky snorts.

“Clint, you do realise –”

“Don’t bother Steve, he refuses to believe it’s not real.” Tasha says wearily, flipping the page of her book and taking another slice of Satsuma as she shoots a sly smirk at Clint who flips her off.

They fall into a comfortable silence, Pietro still nattering away from two rows in front. Clint has turned to face Tasha and is at the perfect angle for Bucky to take discreet snapchats of him with awkward filters and funny captions which he’s sending to everyone except Clint. Tasha has her pokerface nailed but Steve is a good old-fashioned mouth-covering, eyes streaming, wheezing laugher when he’s trying to be quiet and Bucky is revelling in it.They’re all ignoring the group chat which is blowing up with whatever Tony is live streaming about his apparently incredibly interesting life. 

The bus pulls up onto the High Street where most of the kids get on and Steve is already rooting around in his bag as a rowdy mass of teenagers clamber on board.

Pepper, Bruce and Tony fill the five seat at the back already in the middle of a very in-depth debate about the ethical implications of turning human consciences into AI when they die. It seems to have stemmed from a sci-fi movie night in which Tony got over excited. Pepper and Bruce are strong against candidates and Tony, naturally, is the pro advocate. Maria Hill greets them all and then takes the seat in front of Pepper and begins working on some coursework. Jane Foster is laughing at something on her phone as she tries to type one-handedly on her tablet.

“Pepper, Darcy says we’re on for Friday.” Jane calls over her shoulder and Tony is started out of his rant.

“On? On for what? What’s happening Friday? Why was I not invited?” He complains loudly.

“Guys, heads up.” Steve pipes up, throwing pieces of fruit round the bus, getting a chorus of thanks.

“It’s a girl’s night, Tony.” Pepper explains, sharing some of her grapes with Bruce.

“So? Also, Steven, I believe I requested a kiwi.” Tony says snootily and Bucky perks up at this shooting him a real glare.

“Don’t be a shit, Stark.” He snaps but Steve cuts in before Tony can respond.

“My Ma said not getting what you want might do you some good from time to time.” He said simply and everyone burst out laughing. Tony huffed and begrudgingly started his pear.

“Hey, Pepper?”

“Yeah, Clint?”

“Do bananas grow on trees?” He asks, shooting Tasha a sharp look.

“No, arborescent perennial herbs.” She responds instantly with a smile and Bruce hides his own smile when he catches the look on Tony’s face as he stares at her.

“Crappy tasting herb.” Clint grouches.

“Hear hear.” Tony pipes up and Steve scowls at the pair of them.

“Well, excuse me for making sure you don’t get scurvy,” He snaps and begins snapping his pen agitatedly. The group starts talking around him but Bucky is watching his friend carefully. He nudges Steve and gestures to give him a piece of fruit. Steve looks shocked for a second but then beams at him as he passes over an apple. Bucky never eats any of the fruit as he gets pestered enough to eat his greens by his Ma at home. He takes a large bite of the shiny apple and smiles at his friend. Steve even squeezes his hand briefly, letting go quickly and getting back to doodling.

Bucky doesn’t move for a couple of seconds as he’s blinking himself back to normal. Tasha snorts at him just loud enough for him to hear and he glowers at her.

“Pepper, back to the point, I don’t see why I don’t get an honorary invitation to this girl’s night as every girl’s dream man!” Tony says insistently and Pepper, Tasha and Jane all laugh with more than a little scorn.

“If anyone gets an honorary invitation then it’s Steve.” Tasha scoffs and the boys all look up at this, Steve with raised eyebrows.

“Why?” Tony demands.

“Actually, yeah, why?” Steve asks with an embarrassed little laugh.

“Because we like you best.” Pepper says with a playful wink and Steve turns scarlet.

“Hey!” Bruce objects but he’s laughing.

“We like you boys, too. But Steve’s the sweetest.”

“Where’s your evidence for that?” Clint chimes in.

“Sorry, who just handed out fruit to the whole bus?” Tasha chides and that shuts him up as everyone else starts laughing. Steve is turning an even deeper red.

“That’s our Stevie, the sweetest.” Bucky teases for good measure and everyone starts howling and wolf whistling.

“Alright, alright, shut up, please!” Steve begs.

“Steve, would you like to come too?” Jane asks seriously and Steve stutters for a second before nodding with a shrug and a smile.

“Sure.”

“Great, it’s settled then.” Pepper says happily and Tony squawks.

“I’m sorry, what just happened?!” He cries outraged and Bruce distracts him with their additional maths work.

After some time they were getting closer to the next town and when the bus skidded to a halt at the crossroads which proved to be the most dangerous place for a bus stop when the traffic screeched to a halt of horns and yells every morning. Still, Steve perked up a little as Sam hopped onto the bus and dropped down next to Maria, leaned across the aisle and passed Steve the Renaissance Art magazine he’d promised to bring when his Dad had done with it.

Eagerly, Steve began pouring over the pages in earnest and Bucky watched him nearly as closely. Sam chatted happily about the flying lessons he and his friend were going to start taking soon. Tony and Clint joined in with his excitement, even Bucky seemed to be interested as the talk turned to the military. Now Steve watched his friend with the same unease he always felt when Bucky talked about joining the army, not that he wasn’t the perfect candidate but the thought of losing him made him feel sick to his stomach.

With Sam, the Odinson brothers both got on. Everyone knew Loki Odinson had issues with his family, some problem with their Dad and took it out on Thor. Still, Thor was unabashedly happy to simply be around people, even his dramatically forlorn brother. He wouldn’t hear a word against Loki, people had learned early on but he delighted in jokes.

He asked politely to sit beside Jane as he did every morning since they had joined this school at the beginning of the year two weeks ago. Both brothers had odd, abstract manners (they’d moved here from Europe but there were rumours they were Scandinavian royalty) but whereas Loki’s were cold and disdainful, Thor’s were pleasant and charming. He’d taken a shine to Jane the moment he’d stepped on the bus. Of course, didn’t understand a word she was saying but seemed delighted to translate her scientific babble into something he might comprehend. Loki sat in the double seat in front of him and adamantly glared out of the window, angry music blaring in his ears.

“Hey, Dracula, want an apple, Steve’s got like nine,” Tony called obnoxiously down the bus. Clint laughed loudly but Steve shoved him and Jane turned to frown at him.

“Or would you prefer the blood of a virgin, Steve’ll do then anyway.” Tony yelled and Steve spluttered as Loki began to stand up in his seat.

“Hey, Stark, wanna’ shut the hell up?” Bucky growls and Clint cackles. Thor grabs at his brother’s shoulder and pushes him forcibly back down into his seat with a booming laugh.

“They jest, brother.” He laughs and Jane smiles at him apologetically.

“Maybe Steve’s blood won’t be so good after all,” Tony prods and it’s just enough to make Bucky try and grab for him but Steve shoves both hands into his chest and with some effort pushes him back into his seat.

“Leave it, Buck. Don’t rise to it.” Steve mutters seriously, staring him down and at last Bucky huffs and swipes back the other earphone, choosing an appropriately annoyed song and stubbornly refusing to succumb to Steve’s puppy dog eyes.

“Tony we can’t take you anywhere,” Maria snipes from her seat, eyeing him with disapproval and Bruce hums in agreement.

“Can’t take him anywhere nice. His lack of parental recognition leaves him with an overwhelming desire for attention so he acts out like a toddler throwing a tantrum.” Bruce informs with a curt smile and everyone goes quiet for a second, waiting to see Tony’s reaction.

“Yeah, can’t really argue with that one, sorry Rogers, I have a disgustingly high IQ and an appallingly childish attitude – at least that’s what Pepper tells me. Didn’t mean any harm.” He smiles and Steve waves him off with a forgiving smile, not the type to hold grudges. They all know Bucky’s the one he’ll have to work on. Still, Pepper is smiling at Tony with some affection and he can’t help but glance over to her and return it.

The last stop held the poor Phil Coulson who had to stand at the bus stop with Brock Rumlow and Jasper Sitwell. Phil headed up several fan clubs and had a somewhat nerdy aura which most found endearing but other nastier personalities saw as a target. Phil had no victim complex, he saw them as the bullies they were and never cowered next to them but that didn’t stop them from pushing him around and provoking him.

This morning as he got onto the bus, as soon as he stepped out of Fury’s sight due to his eye patch, they shoved him harshly to the ground. Steve stands up and shouts in protest but to everyone’s surprise Loki stands and walks over to the two bullies. They stutter in their laughs and Bucky has a hard grip on Steve’s arm, keeping him in place as the bus has gone silent. Fury is not oblivious but has an ear for knowing when he needs to step in and when things will be sorted without his input.

Loki glances down at Phil and raises an eyebrow, Phil gets up, dusting himself off with an impatient sigh though he looks a little shaken. Loki grimaces at Jasper and Brock, like there’s a bad smell. Loki might be a drama queen but he pulls it off as he stands at just over 6’2 and has an impressive scowl, not one you’d easily pick a fight with. Phil rolls his eyes and takes an empty seat, like the whole ordeal was rather silly. Loki surprises them all yet again when he sits down next to Phil. Neither exchange a word but Phil smiles at him and Loki scoffs but there’s a happy glint in his eye.

Everyone is shocked and bemused until the bus rumbles to life again and Brock and Jasper groused and snapped as they took the empty double seat, soon amusing themselves on their phones. The seats now appeared to be set for the year.

As it was the very beginning of the term, they were all growing accustomed to their classes, new workload, friends, teachers and schedules. It was getting chillier and suddenly scarves and hats, gloves and coats were becoming a necessity. Today, Steve had been forced into Bucky’s scarf and gloves. He’d wanted to argue but after the nasty flu he’d caught last year that had scared Bucky half to death, he knew it was better to just put Bucky at ease. Drawing on Bucky’s hand was a poorly-hidden excuse to try and warm up his hands. If it meant Steve would keep the gloves on, Bucky wouldn’t call him on it.

They were all making sure they had their stuff together for the last five minutes of the bus ride once they turned left at the museum. Thor threw over a packed lunch to Loki who shoved it at Phil and wouldn’t take it back. Tasha gave Clint two pens and a pencil with some scraps of paper because he’d forgotten his bag again. Tony and Bruce agreed to meet up in the lab at lunch to run some experiments with the Bunsen burners. Pepper filled Maria in on the girl’s night which she gladly agreed to and tapped into her phone’s calendar. Sam was checking that Clint and Tasha would be in chemistry and not ditch again as he was left bored on his own last week.

“You got art on tonight?” Bucky asked as he wrapped up his earphones and shoved them and his phone into his pocket, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Steve had additional art tutoring with a few others a couple of nights a week.

“Yeah, ‘til four,” Steve said apologetically, anticipating Bucky’s answer.

“Cool, I’ll wait at the benches.” He replied immediately.

“Buck,” Steve started to protest but Bucky smiled at him.

“It’s fine, Stevie.” He said, eyes out of the window as they approached the school.

“You’ll miss the bus.”

“So will you. Good thing I like walking, huh?” Bucky grinned at him and Steve relented with a huff and a smile.

“Dinner at mine? Ma's making meatballs.” Steve offered.

“Oh, you old romantic, Steven,” Tony crooned and everyone ignored him.

“Sure.” Bucky agreed happily.

Then, the bus pulled up at the school car park and the all piled out. Each were preparing themselves for some other form of student hell in the shape of algebra, pathetic fallacy or trial by athletics. They’re all remarkably bubbly for teenagers heading into high school on a Monday morning. The fan out in the school yard as they all head off to start their day but most gather again at lunch in their little bus crew chatting and joking. They’ll all regroup at the same time the next morning on the bus and it’ll all start again.


	2. Dear Captain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> okay so - steve went to the girl's sleepover, got very drunk with them and told them all about a fantasy of his in which bucky is his 'sergeant' and he takes orders. the girls and steve, all drunk, send bucky many drunk confusing messages and steve avoids him all weekend. on the bus, the girls start.. hinting. steve may die of embarrassment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was far too much fun for me to write. short but sweet bc i already put a chap up on my other fic today, feel free to check that out.  
> i'm not even sure what i'm doing with this but teen steve & bucky are bound to be angsty and adorable and hormonal as hell.  
> hope you enjoy, it's pure rubbish but i had a great time writing it.

 

Bus Seating

BUCKY – – STEVE – – TONY – – BRUCE – –PEPPER

TASHA  – – CLINT                               SAM   – – MARIA

JANE   – – THOR                             WANDA – – PIETRO

PHIL    – – LOKI                              BROCK   – – JASPER

                                                                             FURY

26th September 2016

7:44

“Leave it, Buck.” Steve snapped as he gratefully launched himself up the steps of the bus, briefly escaping the interrogation.

“Come on, Stevie!” Bucky laughs as he follows him up.

“Morning, Fury.” They say in unison and hurry to the back. Fury maybe grunts in greeting or just be making one of his angry sounds, they don’t stop to find out.

“You gotta’ tell me,” Bucky prods and Steve huffs, stomping to their usual seats, begrudgingly allowing his friend to move past him to the window. Steve already has his sketchbook out before they’ve even sat down and it’s an age old technique of his to hide away.

“Ah, the classic Rogers ‘I’m sketching and therefore invisible’ routine. What a treat, look at him go, wow –”

“Oh _God_ , shut up, please!” Steve groans, squeezing his eyes shut in exasperation.

“I’ll shut up when you tell me,” Bucky retorts and Steve exhales angrily through his nose.

“I’ll draw you?” Steve begged and Bucky laughs obnoxiously.

“Reaching there, Rogers.”

“Fine, I don’t want to draw your ugly mug anyways,” He snapped and, just to hopefully piss Bucky off, starts sketching Tony.  His friend just hums in amusement.

They sit in silence for a minute, the bumps of the bus making them jostle against each other. Steve is adamantly ignoring Bucky’s deliberate knocking of their elbows and knees, carving out Tony’s jaw in shade. His friend offers the olive branch of an earphone which Steve takes, stubbornly keeping his eyes on the page which he’s hurrying across. When Rick Astley blasts into his ears without warning, Steve’s extra grumpy Monday morning sleep-deprived persona dies inside and then is resurrected in his fury. He rips it from his ear and glares at his so-called friend.

“Really? Did I deserve that?” He seethed and Bucky just raises his eyebrows challengingly.

“That’s what you get for keeping secrets from your best friend.” He shrugs faux-upset and Steve rolls his eyes.

“I’m not.. lying to you,” Steve insisted but he stutters long enough for Bucky to laugh in triumph.

“Come on, what could have happened that’s got you this worked up, huh?” He remarks but his voice is a touch softer, well-masked concern that only Steve is trained enough to pick up on outside of the Barnes clan. A weight of guilt sinks low in his stomach making him feel a little sick and it’s worse because he knows Bucky’s being sincere and trying to cover it up.

“Nothing, really I don’t know why you think something’s happened,” He tries but this is exactly what he didn’t want to happen and Bucky’s eyes on him are making him shift in his seat where he’s sketching and re-sketching the arch of Tony’s left eyebrow. Bucky huffs audibly, losing his patience now because they both know Steve’s avoiding admitting what’s going on and they don’t keep secrets.

“So I get a bunch of snapchats and text messages _and_ facebook messages all going off about some crap like ‘Sergeant Barnes’ and ‘when will my husband return from the war’ from all the girls at like 4am on Saturday and then you avoid me all weekend and now you won’t talk about it!” He rants, puzzled and frustrated. Steve is lifting his shoulder a little and willing down a growing blush.

“God, please, don’t even think about it, just, it was stupid jokes, we were drunk –”

“Yes, I know you were drunk, you wanna’ hear our text thread?”

“No, no I definitely don’t want –”

“4:08, ‘Buck, I told them soldier not good’, 4:08, ‘please forget you have no army experience don’t worry’, also 4:08 just a bunch of exclamation marks.” Bucky recited quickly and Steve leaned over burying his face against his sketchpad.

“I was drunk, just forget it please,” Steve begged, peeking at his friend who was diligently scrolling through the text thread.

“4:12 ‘I know you didn’t shoot my gun, my heart is the break’,” Bucky laughed good-naturedly but Steve’s ears must be sizzling with how hot they are.

“What does that crap even mean?” Bucky nudges him and Steve sits up abruptly with an awkward laugh, aware that he needs to be careful.

“Listen, I was wasted, we watched some war movie and my head was all fuzzed up and I just decided to send a bunch of dumb texts to you. Please, it was a weird night, just let it go?” Steve gazed up at him with his eyes imploring and Bucky bit his lip a little, brow furrowed, clearly desperate to keep pestering but he never could resist a request like that from Steve.

“Fine, but if it gets any weirder I’ll want answers, Rogers.” He narrowed his eyes a little and Steve smiled in that weak, heartfelt way and Bucky rolled his eyes to avoid losing himself in it.

It was after a few more minutes that the bus pulled up to a stop and Tasha, Clint, Pietro and Wanda climb onto the bus. Pietro and Wanda are discussing something in depth, sounds like they’re saving up to buy a car. Clint is whining about being cold but he’s wearing distressed jeans that were definitely not bought distressed and a sleeveless t-shirt. Tasha is ignoring him wonderfully. They slump into their seats and Tasha instantly turns in her seat, leaning over the backs and smiling wickedly at Bucky and then throwing a slicing grin at Steve who paled.

“Alright, what?” Bucky snapped.

“Oh, nothing, Serge,” She jibed and Bucky swivelled his head to Steve’s sharp enough that it must have hurt.

“Nat, please don’t,” Steve groaned.

“How come he gets to call you Nat?” Clint pouts and she smirks enigmatically.

“After Friday Steve can call me whatever he wants.” And she winked.

Both of the taller boys gaped at her and then Steve. Clint even shot a slightly pained look at him and Steve felt instantly panicked and awful that he might think something had happened between him and Natasha. Though on all accounts he found the idea kind of ridiculous looking between the two of them. As if sensing his self-deprecating thought process, Nat frowned at him, leaned over the seat and planted a light but lingering kiss on his lips and then in one fluid movement twisted and sat back down with a book under her nose, a light smirk in place.

Bucky was rigid in his seat, eyes locked somewhere over Steve’s right shoulder. Clint was almost as solidified in his chair but he quickly shoved on a pair of battered headphones and the music he began blaring was loud enough that all of them could hear each angry guitar screech. Natasha kicks him but he ignores her and Steve tries to shoot a panicked look at Bucky but his friend looks completely vacant, eyes somewhere else.

The silence stretches on and Steve feels a little sick and confused. Bucky is staring out of the window and his jaw keeps clenching and it would be distracting Steve entirely if he wasn’t so utterly uncomfortable. He pokes his friend to get his attention, Bucky seems to hesitate before huffing and looking over. Even then he frowns at Steve and his eyes flicker to Clint and Natasha.

“You’ve got some..” He gestures to Steve’s mouth and watches as Steve frantically scrubs away the remaining lip stain that Natasha somehow had the time and forethought to manage to put on, on a Monday morning.

In his preoccupation Steve barely registered people getting on the bus until they were all around him. Pepper, Maria and Jane all saunter down the aisle and Maria seems to count them in before they all burst out with:

“Captain, my Captain!” And Steve moans and hides his face in his hands as the girls dissolve into laughter.

“You, Rogers, are coming to every sleepover from now on.” Maria vowed and Steve doesn’t know whether to be relieved or not that Clint and Bucky both seem to have simultaneously stopped talking to him. It wasn’t a huge secret that Clint had a thing for Natasha and maybe Bucky was blaming him for upsetting Clint. Natasha was known for rocking the boat but if both boys were going to blame her for kissing whomever she pleased Steve would get mad, it was consensual, and so they had no reason to treat her badly. However, Clint getting upset and being mad at Steve made perfect sense.

Bucky’s stoic silence was the most unsettling. They’re both Clint’s friends but Bucky’s supposed to take Steve’s side, or at least see things from his point of view. It was fairly obvious that whilst he couldn’t pretend Natasha wasn’t gorgeous and perfectly kissable, he wasn’t seeking anything romantic with her at all and was not the sort of person to hurt his friends.

“Why is Rogers getting all the special attention?” Tony queried as he and Bruce set their bags by their feet.

“Steve, Darcy said to say ‘love is a battlefield’.” Jane grinned a little apologetically but clearly enjoying herself and she wandered back over to her favourite seat.

“This is all very cryptic, Rogers, wait, is that a sketch of me?” Tony snatched it up and Steve squawked inelegantly.

“Really? Let’s see, I bet it’s good,” Pepper said and Tony showed her, keeping Steve at arm’s length with his other hand as he tried to get it back.

“My God I look good,” Tony crowed.

“Wow, Steve you’re such a talent!” Pepper praised and Steve turned further scarlet.

“Look at my jawline!”

“Steve, you should look at getting some of this published, still life work like this pays well,” Bruce piped up and Steve was ready to throw himself out of the bus if Bucky would stop sulking for long enough to open the window for him. He glanced at Bucky who was frowning in his direction but quickly looked away and it was so unlike him that Steve wanted to crawl back into bed and not emerge.

“Uh, thanks Bruce, but it’s really not –” And Bucky’s hand makes an abortive movement as if to smack Steve for talking himself down but stops himself.

“Hey, there’s one of the Sergeant in here,” Maria sounds impressed and she turns a page and Steve dives for the sketchpad now. Maria laughs and lets him have it despite Tony’s protests.

“What is with all this Sergeant bullshit?” Bucky snaps at last and Steve shoves his pad deep into his bag, wishing it would erupt into flames and save him anymore humiliation. He can’t meet Bucky’s eye. Bucky is staring everyone down, a clumsy octopus like feeling bubbling in his stomach that is driving him insane.

“Dominant,” Maria mutters from where she’s tapping away on her phone and Bucky starts grinding his teeth as the girls wheeze with quiet laughter, even Natasha is biting down on her lip. Steve has gone the most ridiculous shade of red and won’t look up. The image of Steve kissing Natasha when he made such a big deal about kissing being special and a big deal for him and he just did it without blinking inches from Bucky’s face. It pissed him off.

“What’s the private joke and why am I not in on it?” Tony demanded.

“Back off, Stark. You weren’t there.” Jane called over her shoulder from a few eats in front.

“I don’t see why Rogers was invited and I wasn’t!” He complained and Pepper smacked him with a laugh.

“Because Steve is irresistible,” She said simply and Tony let out a noise of outrage.

“Yeah, apparently.” Clint muttered darkly and no one had noticed him take off his headphones. Steve considered texting Clint quickly to assure him he didn’t like Natasha in that way but he couldn’t imagine her missing that.

“Why is Barnes all riled up?” And of course, Tony chooses this moment to be observant.

“Is it because I’m Rogers’ new life model and he’s jealous?”

“Ah, shove it up your ass, Stark,” Bucky snarled and Steve puts a hand on his arm, completely stilling him. The others seem to notice something is off because Bruce and Pepper simultaneously start talking about where they are going to dinner and Tony gets wrapped up in it.

Natasha flicks the side of Clint’s head as Steve and Bucky don’t move, Steve’s hand still lingering on his arm. Clint barely glances at her before shrugging her away. She sighs and grabs a fistful of his hair and tugging his head into her lap. Catcalls and wolf whistles echo from Tony until he’s distracted again but Steve can just see Natasha absently running her hand through Clint’s hair as she reads. Somehow – problem solved.

Steve pulls out his phone and messages Bucky before looking at his other messages.

8:13 – To Bucky Barnes:

_i didn’t mean to upset clint_

_please don’t be mad_

_i’m going to make it up to him you don’t have to be mad for him_

8:08 – From Pepper Potts

_when are you going to tell him?_

_there’s no rush but you’d be so cute_

8:02 – From Maria Hill

_Steven Rogers if you don’t sort yourself out and admit your feelings we will milk your military kink for the rest of your high school career_

Steve shuddered as he read that one, managing to shield his phone from view of a distracted Tony and an annoyed twisted away Bucky.

8:05 – Natasha Romanoff

_You know he’ll figure it out_

_I am positive James has fantasised about you as his soldier boyfriend, too, don’t worry. And told all of his friends whilst drunk. You were the life of the party._

He gulps and Natasha shoots one brief, hard look over her shoulder – pointedly glancing at Bucky.

8:11 – From Jane Foster

_Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause an issue, we were just joking._

_Also, I’m really sorry if Darcy harasses you – she’s excitable._

_We are all rooting for you!_

8:11 – From Darcy Lewis

_please tell me youre banging your sergeant jane says he’s being all broody_

_she also didn’t want me to say that lol forgive me i have sinned_

_anywhoo get on that i will if you don’t_

_rogers pls GET ON IT right, that is an order u kinky bastard ok see u in chem xx_

The bus stopped again and Sam and the Odinson brothers jumped on. Sam had got his S.O.S texts and was making pointed gestures to Bucky, staring Steve down when he shook his head frantically. It was a damn miracle that Bucky had closed his eyes but he wasn’t looking at his phone. Thor sat with Jane again who delved into happy discussion about some homework Thor most certainly hadn’t done.

Steve remembered his fruit and started throwing around the packs of berries his Ma had packed up for him this morning. The little cling film packs of strawberries bounced around the bus and people called thanks to him as they began eating, the gorgeous fruity smell invading the bus. As Steve went to put his bag away he saw his sketchpad and made a quick decision which might be awful and might just fix things. He starts sketching and shading as quickly as he can and it’s not neat but it needs to be fast.

The last stop came too quickly and Steve tried to speed up as he noted Phil Coulson happily planting himself down next to Loki and Brock and Jasper shoving and batting at each other, laughing as they found their own seats. As they were finally just two minutes from school and people started getting their bag straps over the shoulders, Steve gently prodded Bucky’s side. Reluctantly, Bucky turned to fix him with an unimpressed look and Steve shoved the sketch in his hand.

As Bucky looked at it, Steve busied himself with his bag, not looking in case he saw scorn on his friend’s face, or disinterest or disappointed or some other dis-word that would make him hurt inside. The sketch was a rough outline of the two of them mid-laugh, Bucky’s arm slung over his shoulder and they are both in a military uniform. It’s scruffy and badly detailed but it’s obviously the two of them. It’s labelled ‘Captain Rogers & Sergeant Barnes’.

“S’ just a little story idea,” Steve coughed, the scalding blush not missed by his friend.

“Stevie,” Bucky says and it’s light enough that Steve dares a look. It’s worth it – Bucky is beaming at him and holding the scrap of torn out paper like it’s pure gold.

He slings his arm over Steve’s shoulders and pulls him for a close, warm hug.

“You could’a told me about that.” Bucky laughs and that familiar guilty feeling rises in his stomach again before dropping like a lead weight.

“Embarrassed.” He mutters, figuring the less he says, the better.

“Come on, we’ve got to see if there’s any more chocolate in the vending machine before everyone else grabs it.”

As they leave the bus, Steve’s phone vibrates and he pulls it out to find another message.

8:46 – From Natasha Romanoff

_Very smooth._

Steve bites on his lip as Bucky looks oblivious walking next to him. His phone vibrates again.

8:47 – From Natasha Romanoff

_You should tell him._

Steve sighed deeply and looked at his friend. He really should tell him. Bucky caught him staring and raised an eyebrow with a cheeky grin. He really should.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there you go - ridiculous but they are dumb boys and steve is beyond embarrassed.  
> i would love some feedback and thank you for the kudos!  
> alright, it's 2am and i need sleep. thanks for reading! b x


	3. Sick Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is getting sick. Cue over protectiveness and arguments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was meant to be just a one-off silly thing to try out but people seem to maybe be enjoying them?  
> let me know if you are and i'll keep at it bc they are good fun to write  
> hope you enjoy!

 Bus Seating

BUCKY – – STEVE – – TONY – – BRUCE – –PEPPER

TASHA  – – CLINT                               SAM   – – MARIA

JANE   – – THOR                             WANDA – – PIETRO

PHIL    – – LOKI                              BROCK   – – JASPER

                                                                             FURY

3rd November 2016

7:45

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?”

“Quit it, Buck.” Steve croaks as they mumble a hello to Fury. The back of the bus feels really far away today.

“No, this is a stupid idea,” Bucky snaps.

“You’re a stupid –!” Steve starts to snap back when a wave of dizziness causes him to stumble and collide into the nearest seat. Bucky’s hands are already on him, taking his weight until he rights himself and he’s a good enough friend that he waits in silence for Steve’s head to stop spinning before he continues his lecture. He steps in front of his sickly friend and tilts his chin up to look in his eyes, checking how bad his fever is now with his other hand pressed against Steve’s forehead.

“Still think you’re fine?” Bucky mumbles as he uses the hand that was on his chin to check his temperature. His cool hands on his neck and forehead make Steve whine a little and he leans into the touch.

“Yeah, m’great,” He mutters and Bucky scoffs an unimpressed laugh. He still helps get Steve to their seats though so he’s not all _that_ mad.

It’s a bitterly cold day, winter chasing away the very briefest of autumns this year. The windows are fogged and their breath coils in plumes around them – memories of pretending to be dragons when they were kids in their minds. The perpetual light rain kept them permanently soggy, seeping through their clothes and making the biting wind that bit more sharp. Steve always got sick this time of year, though usually not this early on, his lungs rattling more angrily and extra strain on his heart. However, with a sickness bug going around he didn’t stand a chance of not getting ill.

He was doing his usual routine of pretending nothing was wrong, getting defensive when anyone suggested otherwise and soldiering on until he eventually collapsed and made everything ten times worse than it would have been if he’d just taken a day or two to rest when it started. But this was Steve. He was sat upright, shaking like a leaf, trying to sniff subtly and was obviously resisting the urge to hide his hands in his sleeves – they were nearly purple. Bucky huffed in frustration and wrapped an arm around his friend who momentarily tried to pull away but Bucky was stronger by far and pulled him close.

Taking off the scarf his Ma had made for him and circling it around Steve’s neck, Bucky gripped both of his hands and started blowing hot air onto them and rubbing them to generate some heat. Steve at last relented and burrowed against Bucky’s chest with a heavy sniffle and sickly moan.

“How’d I get stuck with a stubborn dumbass for a best friend, huh?” Bucky grumbles and ignores the warmth in his chest when he feels Steve laugh from where he’s cuddled up to him.

“Takes one to know one.” He laughs again but it turns into a chesty cough which borders on an asthma attack. Bucky helps him with his inhaler and makes him breathe in time with his breaths.

They’re quiet for a few minutes, just holed up alone in the back corner of the bus and ordinarily Bucky would get his earphones out but Steve’s head must be hurting him. He can tell he’s sleepy from his uncharacteristic silence, when he’s not drawing or thinking deeply, he’ll always happily chat away to Bucky. Now, however, he’s very quiet, buried in Bucky’s jacket and it’s dangerously comfortable. When he sneezes he groans in frustration at himself.

“You okay, pal?” Bucky asks reluctantly – he’d been pleading with Steve to stay home, even offered to skip school to stay with him but Steve had resolutely ignored him. His Ma was always on shifts in the morning so Bucky was the only one who could try and talk any sense into him.

“M’cold.” His voice is small and shaky and Bucky is trying not to jump to the worst conclusions but Steve got a bout of pneumonia last year that nearly finished him off and he really can’t watch that again. Placing a hand against Steve’s sweaty forehead, Bucky grimaces.

“You’re burning up,” He sighs, a ball of fear sat steady in his chest. He knows the drill, Steve needs to be at home and they have to wait for the fever to break but it could take a couple of days, maybe more and Steve hates skipping school because of his health. Steve hums in disagreement.

“No, m’cold, Buck,” He whimpers and Bucky huddles him closer. “Was hot a minute ago.” He tacks on absently and by all rights Bucky should be bald from how often he wants to tear his hair out due to his hazard of a best friend.

“I know, Stevie, s’alright.” He soothes, shooting off another text to Steve’s mum Sarah about his condition.

“You’re warm, Buck,” Steve mumbles and hums happily against him. Bucky gulps a little when Steve’s hands wind around his neck but he knows his friend is somewhat delirious now.

“Uh, yeah,” He clears his throat a little. “You stay warm, Stevie, I’ll sort you out, don’t worry.”

Steve makes one last sound of approval and then his breaths get deeper and his whole body goes lax and Bucky knows he’s fallen asleep. He’s aware that people are about to get on the bus and he’s all but cradling Steve but doesn’t care nearly enough to extract himself. Whatever people think, they know Steve gets sick and their friends always worry so they’ll probably be a little relieved to at least see he’s letting Bucky take care of him.

When the bus starts jolting a little as the breaks are terrible in the rain and the speed bumps up the hill cause Fury some annoyance, Steve shifts restlessly and makes little noises of unease. Without blinking Bucky holds him closer and presses a kiss into his hair. Steve settles quickly but Bucky is taken aback by his own thoughtless action. Like it was second nature. He really was getting too comfortable. It was then that Natasha and Clint flopped down in front of them and the Maximoff twins didn’t get on the bus but those two got sick nearly as much as Steve and had no qualms about skipping school.

“Christ, Clint you look like death,” Bucky said low, careful not to wake Steve.

“Yeah, well, you ain’t so pretty either,” Clint bellowed and Bucky winced as Steve mumbled a little in his sleep but thankfully didn’t wake up. He shot a scathing look at Clint but Natasha sighed shaking her head.

“His flu is messing with his ears so he took his hearing aid out,” She explained and Bucky nodded sympathetically at Clint who shrugged and made a ‘what can you do’ sound.

“Tasha, fix me,” Clint groaned and dropped his head onto her shoulder.

“Don’t get your bacteria on me.” She complained but didn’t shove him away.

“How’s sleeping beauty?” She asks, twisted in her seat so she can see them properly. Bucky’s arms tightened unconsciously but of course it didn’t slip Natasha’s notice.

“He’ll be alright, James.” She said seriously.

“Yeah, like he was alright last year,” He growled bitterly, before sighing and shaking his head. “Sorry, I’m just,” He apologised but Natasha shook her head understandingly. Clint was snoring loudly which made them both smile and they knew the conversation was private.

“I worry about him, too. We all do,” She reassured and Bucky forced a deep breath in and out.

“I know. Everybody loves him but he just can’t see his own damn limits. He burns out,” He says sadly and tips his head back to glare at the roof of the bus rather than face Natasha’s knowing look.

“It’s okay to be worried.”

“I know that.”

“And it’s okay to be scared.” Natasha added and Bucky levelled a look at her, warning her not to push it. It was clear she wasn’t just talking about Steve being sick.

“It’s not like that, Nat.”

“Hey, it’s not me you need to convince.” She deflected in that infuriating way of hers that meant Bucky was being an idiot and she was definitely right and he was definitely in denial.

Steve happened to half-wake at this moment but decided to keep half-dreaming and half-listening as he was beautifully warm and happy to stay cuddled up to Bucky.

“He’s my best friend, if I can’t keep him from burning out and getting himself sick, what the hell am I good for, huh?” Bucky said, wound up tightly.

“You can’t keep every bad thing from him. This is Steve we’re talking about, he’s never going to stop fighting back, you know that better than anyone, James.” Natasha reminded seriously and Bucky made a noise of unwilling, amused agreement.

“I know. I just, I hate seeing him sick.” He admitted and Steve felt a bolt of sad guilt shoot through him and he pretended to be still asleep as he snuggled closer to his friend. A physical apology was as close as he could get to one.

“That’s selfish, Barnes.” Natasha said with a smug smile and Bucky even huffed a laugh.

“Yeah, well, that’s me.” He allowed and Natasha laughed kindly, glad he was less miserable. “I my defence, I didn’t drag his ass to bed like I wanted to.”

“Yeah, I bet you did,” Natasha said wickedly and Steve was glad his face was buried so his blush was hidden. He felt Bucky’s muscles stiffen too and worked hard not to alter his breathing so they would suspect he was awake.

“Jesus, Tasha, come on,” Bucky whined and Natasha laughed happily. Steve chose that moment to ‘wake up’.

“Nat?” He asked blearily, and the state of his voice helped the charade. Bucky was suddenly all attentive hands and checked his fever again which made it incredibly difficult to concentrate.

“Hey, there, sleeping beauty – you shouldn’t be here.” She reprimanded and Steve shuffled uncomfortably.

“I can handle a couple hours of school,” He mumbled and she raised an eyebrow as he sniffled loudly, only getting to enjoy the smell of Bucky’s scarf a little which annoyed him because he’s sure it smelt wholly of Bucky. Stupid, traitorous nose.

“You’ve fallen asleep on the bus before we’re even half way to school,” She pointed out and Bucky made a sound of agreement but clearly wasn’t pushing it because then Steve would move away to prove he’s alright and he’d be in the cold again.

“So’s Clint!” And his point was punctuated by a loud snore.

“Clint’s a foot taller and probably wider than you, you can’t compare bodies to someone who’s situation is completely different to yours.” She at least doesn’t list off his reams of health issues too which is a nice change. “Quit making people worry, Rogers, didn’t think you were the type of guy who made his friends feel bad.” She went for the jugular as Steve spluttered and then leant back against the window, letting Clint lean against her and whipped out what appeared to be a romance manga.

“M’sorry Bucky,” Steve mumbled, feeling his emotions wavering against his will as they always did when he was sick. He even felt the absurd urge to cry which would just be the icing on his cake of embarrassment. Plus, that would definitely make Bucky panic and he’s clearly worried enough.

“Ah, it’s okay, Stevie. Just trying to make sure you don’t get in a bad way. You could at least try and pretend you’re human and get weak sometimes like the rest of us,” He teased quietly and Steve chuckled a little.

“Pretty sure then you’d get bored of me,” He grinned up at Bucky who was looking at him with such open fondness that Steve felt his throat close up for entirely different reasons.

“Known you my whole life, punk, don’t remember being bored much.” He quipped sardonically and Steve smiled smugly, confirming his own reputation as a professional little shit.

Clint’s snoring was starting to take on an epic volume as they pulled up onto the High Street. Maria and Jane got on together first and Jane was definitely a little sick, bright red nose and her voice was thick and warbled as Maria went and sat down next to her instead of coming to the back of the bus like usual.

“Maria?” Natasha called down the bus in question.

“There’s no way in hell I’m sitting near Stark.” She calls back and Natasha nods understandingly.

“Oh God,” Bucky groans when he sees Tony climb onto the bus followed by Bruce and Pepper.

“If anything _you’re_ sick, Pepper Potts,” Tony was mid-rant as he came down the bus aisle. “For doubting my body’s stamina and exceptional immune system.”

“Tony, you need rest,” Pepper insisted and everyone marvelled at her patience. Bruce actually had earphones in and had apparently reached saturation point before even getting on the bus which didn’t bode well. Pepper allowed Bruce the window seat at the back and sit between the two, deciding it safer than allowing Tony free range to provoke Bruce further.

“Tony, when did you last sleep?” Steve mumbles as he turns to look at him.

“Oh great, I get to sit next to the walking incubus.” Tony snarks and Steve bristles.

“Are you joking, your nose is leaking plague, Stark,” Steve snapped back and Bucky snorts in amusement.

Maria and Jane actually clap from the front of the bus and Pepper giggles a little in shock as Tony stares bewildered for a second. People forget how Steve gets when he’s sleepy, hungry or ill – Bucky on the other hand has the most experience. Steve is still tucked up against his side but he’s sat more upright and his hands are in his lap and Bucky tries not to feel too disappointed.

“He hasn’t slept in three days,” Pepper tells them and Tony scoffs as if that is unimportant.

“I’ve been busy!”

“Tony, you got grounded for trying to build a torpedo in your basement!” She cries, exasperated and Bucky looks over, interest piqued. Easy to forget Stark’s some kind of mechanical genius.

“Yeah, well, Dad was pissing me off,” He mumbles. Everyone looks at him in varying levels of concern and amusement which inevitably grates at him.

“What, no fruit today from patient zero?” He says waspishly to Steve who tries to puff up but hasn’t really got the energy.

“Back off, Stark.” Natasha and Bucky say at the same time and then smirk at each other.

“Sorry, forgot the Rogers’ defence squad was on the scene,” He snapped and Pepper huffed at him, holding out some pills and a water bottle.

“Please just take them and save us all some hassle,” She begged and Tony glared at her which was unusual.

“Why don’t you save me some hassle and take them yourself, maybe then you’ll get off my back long enough to hear myself think.”

Everyone went quiet, even Clint had woken up to the commotion and was watching the scene from the safety of Natasha’s shoulder. Tony seemed to realise that he’d crossed a line but he was stubborn enough that he just kept staring at Pepper. Pepper threw the pills over to Bucky who nimbly caught them with the hand that wasn’t around Steve’s shoulders. She put the water bottle on Bruce’s lap who didn’t react, and then pushed past Tony calmly to go and sit in the empty Maximoff seats and join the conversation with Maria and Jane across the aisle.

Tony irritably got out his tablet and started all but punching in codes and sketching out designs for something which Steve would have taken an interest in but had no desire to get caught in the Stark crossfire. Bruce threw the bottle of water and Tony deftly ducked so the lid end caught Steve on the side of the head and he cried out in pain.

“Shit, Steve!”

“What the hell you trying to do, Banner? He’s sick!” Bucky growled and Steve pats his arm to get him to stop yelling at Bruce. He has good enough distraction in checking Steve’s alright and there’s a small cut on his temple.

“I’m so sorry, Steve,” Bruce gushed and Steve waved him off with a weak smile as he winced. Bucky pulled his head round so he could look at the cut and starts wiping away the small trail of blood.

“Tony, why’d you duck?” Clint yelled and Tony looked at him in shock, not realising Clint was just having hearing difficulty and wasn’t just hugely pissed off.

“Hey, what else was I supposed to do?”

“Catch it.” Natasha said like it was incredibly obvious and everyone made noises of agreement.

“Bruce is the one who threw it!”

“He apologised,” Clint boomed and Natasha laughed and flicked his ear, a sign for him to try and quiet down. Usually you couldn’t tell when Clint had his hearing aid out as he was so good at reading lips and judging his own volume but with being so ill he couldn’t gauge it.

“Alright, sorry Rogers, it was reflex.” Tony said dismissively and Steve once again waved it away.

“Buck, it doesn’t hurt, alright, just leave it,” Steve pushed his arms away and Bucky exhaled sharply but backed off.

“Steve, you attract trouble.” Clint said, still abrasively loud but not a full out yell.

“Why’d you think Barnes sticks to him like glue?” Tony laughs.

“You wanna’ push me today?” Bucky glowers over Steve’s shoulder and Steve’s too glued up to really take any notice. Plus, Tony was going out of his way to antagonise Bucky, maybe he deserved what he got.

“I know it’s stressful when your partner is in pain,” Tony snaps, obviously really trying to get a rise today and Bucky only hadn’t thrown a punch because the guy’s ill and Steve is between them.

“Yeah you seem to be an expert in being a pain to your partner,” Bucky retorts with a pointed glance at Pepper and Tony’s jaw clenches.

“Fuck off, Barnes.”

“Leave him alone, Tony.” Steve growled and then pushed back against Bucky and coughed painfully.

“Everyone’s tense,” Clint yells at Natasha who blinks at the volume.

“There’s a ringing in my ear, Barton.” She says with a roll of her eyes. “Everyone’s lost without Steve’s fruit.” She added, shooting a warm smile to Steve who laughed a little.

When they reach the crossroads, Sam, Loki and Thor all clamber on the bus. Sam looks a little worse for wear but the Odinson boys are fine. Thor is laughing as clapping a pissed off looking Loki.

“Brother, you cannot trick Father into thinking you are ill when you are not!” Thor chides happily and Loki shoves his hand away.

“I am sick, of you and Father in equal measure,” Loki snaps and slumps into his seat. Thor is momentarily stumped when he sees Maria sitting next to Jane.

“Is this seat taken?” He asks Maria who eyes him up.

“Am I sitting on it?” She replies, unimpressed and he nods and raises his hands in surrender.

“It’s okay, Thor, I’m sick, Maria won’t catch it but your antibodies might be more susceptible seeing as you aren’t from around here, probably best not to sit by me until I’m better,” Jane sniffles with a smile and Thor is visibly disappointed but goes and sits where Maria usually sits.

“Steven, are you well?” Thor asks over the seat at the same volume as Clint but without the excuse.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Steve starts and Bucky shoves him lightly because there’s really no point in trying to deny it now.

“Well, I’m a bit sick, too. It’s going around, I’ll be better in no time.” Steve assures with a smile and leans further into Bucky’s warmth, trying to be subtle. Sam sits down next to Thor and he’s more perky than Steve and not as manic looking as Tony but he looks tired.

“How you holding up, Steve?” Sam asks as he lets his head rest back and sighs with feeling.

“M’alright – you?” Steve asks and Sam huffs a little.

“You got a human cushion, no offence, Barnes, I’m sure you’re really comfy. I’m cushionless,” Sam whines sadly and Steve grins at him. Being sick is definitely more fun when other people share the burden.

“You’re damn right, I’m comfy,” Bucky winks and Steve hums in agreement, elbowing him into a more comfortable position. “I also have no human rights on this bus, so it’s up and down.” He smirks and Steve nods solemnly.

“Sam, why don’t you cuddle up to Thor?” Natasha remarks, not looking up from her book.

“I have been told I am a good cuddler.” Thor reports happily.

“Who told you that?” Sam asked, as if reviewing his services before he jumped in.

“I cannot reveal my sources,” He replies with a charming smile and Sam laughs. Then he swings his legs up onto Thor and sighs happily.

“Ah, don’t put up with that, Thor!” Clint shouts with a laugh.

“Jesus, where’s the fire, Barton?” Sam winces and rubs his head.

“He’s not got his hearing aid,” Steve filled in and Sam sighed with a nod.

“I have no aversion to being a footrest for the journey.” Thor shrugged and glanced briefly at Jane before returning his attention to the rest of them. “Stark, you’re oddly solemn this morning, are you unwell?”

“On the contrary, your majesty, my productivity is at 140% and I smell like strawberries.” Tony spared a moment to throw a blasé smile his way.

“I’m not getting strawberries,” Steve mutters.

“Your face droops, my friend.” And Bucky, Steve, Natasha and Clint all laugh loudly but Thor looks legitimately concerned.

“He fought with Pepper,” Clint cries out and Natasha snorts with laughter when Pepper turns.

“Shut it, Barton. Can you shut him up?” He hisses at Natasha whilst trying and failing to avoid looking at Pepper.

“Yes but I’m choosing not to.” Natasha smiles happily and Tony gives her a withering look as Clint wheezes with laughter.

“What was your quarrel?” Thor pursues and he is a little more quiet now, attempting to be considerate.

“Doesn’t matter,” Tony says quickly as he taps wildly on his tablet. “Was my fault, I’ll fix it.” And Tony worried was an interesting thing to watch.

“Miss Potts is valiant and good-hearted, she will forgive your folly, Tony.” Thor assures and it’s remarkably calming.

“I’ll fix it.” Tony repeats and Bruce is watching him carefully but his eyes are tired enough that he doesn’t get involved.

“Who wants a sick sleepover tonight?” Clint exclaims excitedly and Natasha flicks his ear.

“It’s a Monday,” She reminds him.

“Yeah,” He grins, shrugging.

“I don’t want to get your diseases.”

“You’re sick too, Tony.” Sam reminds him. “I’m in, anything to get away from my Mum’s fussing.”

“I’ll come.” Bruce says and his voice is wispy and creaking and everyone winces in sympathy for him, even Tony who had apparently been winding him up earlier.

“I will certainly be there, I shall invite Jane and Loki, also.” Thor says happily and they let him believe that Loki would ever come rather than shatter the illusion.

“We’ll come, too.” Steve agrees happily and Bucky sighs in frustration.

“You do not wish to catch the sickness, Barnes?” Thor asks.

“Bucky doesn’t get sick.” Steve says and there’s a hint of pride in his voice that makes Bucky smirk despite himself.

“Neither does Tasha.” Clint announces and she shrugs.

“Freaks.” Tony decides and they both shrug again. It’s true – neither of them get ill. If Bucky is under the weather he always hides it from Steve, which, yes, is hypocritical but he doesn’t have a list of health issues so everyone could just back off.

“Fine, we’ll go. But we’ll have to leave early so your Ma doesn’t kill me.” Bucky says and Steve nods, smiling into the scarf and sniffling some more.

“Count me in, then. I could use a drink.” Tony sighs.

“There will be no drinking, Tony. Not for the sickees.” Natasha says seriously.

“Sickees?” Sam cries, outraged.

“That’s discrimination,” Tony objects and Natasha just raises her eyebrow, daring him to challenge her authority. He groaned and went back to his tablet.

“Bruce, I have that chamomile stuff you like.” Clint roars and everyone groans, even Maria, Jane and Pepper turning to stare at the noise.

“Thanks, buddy.” Bruce mumbles sleepily but there is a hint of a smile.

When they reach the last stop, Phil nearly sneezes himself off of the bus and it echoes throughout the vehicle.

“Shit, Phil looks awful,” Sam comments with sympathy in his tone. Steve’s in a bad way but with Bucky to catch him when he falls, he’s alright. Coulson is stumbling about blindly and Jasper and Brock don’t get on the bus – unsurprising considering they’ll jump on any chance to skip. Loki takes mercy on him and ranks him into the seat, quickly launching into a lecture on the merits of self-diagnosis, his voice dripping with sarcasm but Phil is too out of it to pay any mind. He even tells Loki to shut up at one point which almost definitely earns him more respect.

“You got any of those bars?” Steve asks.

“Not for you.” Bucky replies, fixing him with an amused look and Steve whines childishly.

“I got a gross taste in my mouth!” He complains.

“Barnes wants you to prove it.” Tony quips and Bucky’s leg goes across Steve and boots Tony who squawks as he nearly drops his tablet and then retracts as he looks back to Steve like nothing happened.

“You can’t eat that crap when you’re sick.”

“You shouldn’t eat that crap healthy,” Steve retorts.

“You’re right.” Bucky says, smirking infuriatingly and Steve pouts at him making him laugh.

“I’m already sick, what else could happen?”

“Think that’s called tempting fate, dumbass.” Bucky says and pulls the scarf tighter around his friend.

“Fate can fuck off.” Steve grumbles, defeated and Bucky laughs unabashedly whilst Natasha smirks across the seat.

“Hear hear,” Sam moans from his seat.

“This fucking bus must nearly be there,” Clint groans, clutching his stomach.

“You puke on me at your peril, Barton.” Natasha warns.

“Threatening me won’t help, Tasha,” He says sulkily.

“I disagree.” She says and Bucky and Thor laugh.

They arrive shortly and they all start to pile off of the bus, Tony stopping and starting, not sure whether to face Pepper now or later. Bucky and Steve wait until they’re all off before they get up.

“Buck, wait.” Steve says as they go to leave the bus.

“You alright?” Bucky says, instantly worried and Steve sighs.

“I’m sorry I make you worry.” He glances up through his lashes at his friend and Bucky watches him, hands twitching like they want to do something but haven’t decided what yet.

“It’s alright, Stevie.”

“No, it’s not, you’re real important to me and if you got really sick I don’t know what I’d do –”

“This won’t get you a chocolate bar, you know.” Bucky deflects, attempting humour to diffuse the suddenly heavy emotional air around them he wasn’t expecting.

“Buck,” Steve looks at him with frustration, wanting him to take this seriously.

“I’m not getting sick. You’re getting better. Everything’s gonna’ be fine, Steve.” He promises and Steve looks torn, like there’s more he wants to say but relents, nodding.

“Just don’t want anything to happen,” Steve tries but he’s stepping around what he really wants to say and Bucky is trying to fill in the gaps but the school bus on a Monday morning when Steve is swaying on his feet from how sick he is, isn’t where this conversation should be happening. Bucky steps closer, placing a hand on Steve’s shoulder and the distance is a little closer than it should be.

“Stop worrying. No one’s going anywhere, Rogers. Now come on.” Bucky says but he’s waiting to make sure Steve’s alright. Steve takes a deep breath, allowing Bucky’s hand to lightly steady him and nods, getting off the bus. As they reach the schoolyard Steve goes to give Bucky his scarf back but he stops him.

“Nah, you keep it. My Ma was making you one anyways, I’ll just use that one when she’s done.” He says easily and Steve stares at him, wanting to tell him more than anything in this moment. Bucky looks a little worried at the stare and backtracks over what he’s said.

“Un... Unless, you really want that one, you don’t have to have mine, I just figured –”

“No, I, thanks, Buck, this one’s great thank you.” He smiles warmly and Bucky smiles back though he looks confused. They huddle back up and quickly get into school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed this - please let me know if you do and i'll keep on.  
> i have a bunch of chapter ideas  
> my main fic rn is my tangled au but in between chapters i enjoy spewing these out so if people think they're alright i'll keep on  
> okay, have a great day, week and general time from rainy wales. b x

**Author's Note:**

> pst, hope you liked it. b x


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